Hi all,
We had a great day on the lake today. We saw a couple adults fly in and land just south of Sucker Brook only to depart a few minutes later this morning. There was a single adult diving northbound past the access this morning and one diving southbound past Sucker Brook this evening. The adult with the chicks is taking them across to the island to feed but they still return to their cove when finished.
Goshen Dam seems to have either one or three there when folks check. Silver Lake reports either five or six adults, or the chick with either one or both parents. All seems well in the loon world around here.
Below is preening time tonight.

Hi all,
This water ski was found last year and stored safely (at no cost to the owner) in the finder’s garage. Unfortunately it got lost in there too until now. If it is yours, or you remember someone losing one last year, call 352-4301 to claim it.
The Silver Lake family was intact as of late yesterday morning. Mike

Hi all,
Here’s a great shot taken by Sara D. when a damsel fly landed on the boat. We’ll hopefully get more shots of these before they are gone.

No pictures of our loons but the family has yet to move out of the cove. Several folks have reported one between Waterhouses and Songa and we had an adult feeding in front of us today.

This morning I walked into Silver Lake and first saw two pairs who then became four together. They were joined by a large male who made them very nervous for a few minutes before all five swam towards the south end. One of the smaller ones swam north by itself just before three took off and made a couple passes with the male yodeling with each pass.

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Anyone who hauls a canoe into Silver Lake deserves to have their picture taken.

That male then flew northbound to get near the smaller one who swam away but then that small one flew away leaving the male alone. It then swam northbound wailing and tremoloing as it went. I never saw the chick but campers said there was a chick with six adults last night and others said there was a chick with two adults at 6:00 this morning. I’m hoping it was in hiding when I was there this morning and will be looking for updates when anyone goes up there.

Henry is a man on the Vt./Ma. line who does what we do here but more of it. Below is his reply whenI asked about loon count in his area. Enjoy, Mike

What is the “normal” count. That is a good question. I have counted as many as 19 but that was when I covered more ponds. The numbers on Somerset keep creeping up. There are 3 pair on that reservoir now and usually 2 or 3 singles. Only 2 pair have ever nested in a given year and only once did both pair produce 2 chicks. The second pair is very old and the third pair is very young. But only the original male is banded so who knows anymore. He lost his territory and founded a new one for 3 years but I have not seen his bands for 2 years so he may be gone now. As the number of pairs has increased and the numbers of singles have increased there is a lot of conflict between the birds which is likely the reason that all 3 pair have not nested. This year there are 10 adults on the pond and the water is very low so all pairs have had to find new nest sites causing even further conflicts. Fishing has greatly increased on the pond and it is so remote the signs are frequently ignored. Last year they were all cut.
Bourne pond has a pair that has produced chicks every year since they started. South pond had its first nest last year but there was lots of conflict there this year and no nest attempt.
I check about 7 other ponds that birds are on sometimes probably just feeding. So the numbers vary a lot but continue to increase in S. Vermont.
Of the 16 birds this year, 2 chicks were on Somerset and 1 on Bourne

Although “weeds” is a four letter word around here, the loons seem to be taking advantage of the protection.

Jackie B. reports that the sub-adult near Branbury was being chased by a couple of adults on Monday morning, I haven’t been able to find it during the couple trips I made up there since. I doubt it was our family adults doing the chasing since they rarely leave the chicks alone, and why do it now instead of when it first showed up. It could have been a pair passing through and trying to establish some dominance for a takeover try next year. The adult with the chicks has seemed extra vigilant lately so maybe there has been a confrontation there too. Nothing has been happening at our end except we’ve heard loons tremoloing while flying. It has been all up there towards the island where we can’t see though. I haven’t seen our south end loon in several days.
A single adult has been regularly reported off the girl’s and boy’s camp, I think that is the Waterhouse loon that stays up that way.

There is lots of drama at this time of year as non-breeding adults gather for the migration back to salt water. Bill P. got this picture of 6 adults at Silver Lake today. Chicks are very good at hiding so I won’t get worried until someone gets up there and finds no chick when the group is gone. If you are looking for a reason for a walk to Silver Lake, please let me know what you found. Mike

Hi Folks,
Apparently I sent this to myself without adding you all. Sorry about that and thank you Karen R. for waking me up.

Begin forwarded message:

From: Mike Korkuc <korkuc>

Subject: loon watch, and bear.

Date: July 18, 2015 at 7:07:02 PM EDT

To: Mike Korkuc <korkuc>

Hi all,
Loonwatch was a great success this morning. Here on Lake Dunmore, 8 of us in 3 boats saw 4 adults (one of those flying), 1 sub-adult, and the 2 chicks. We did not get rained on, and Steve C. brought bagels and donuts to sustain us during the 2 hours of hard work out there. Who could ask for anything more. I didn’t see anything at Fern Lake or Mud Pond but wasn’t surprised by that. Sue W. found 1 adult with the chick on Silver Lake and though she watched quite a while, the other adult didn’t show. Bummer but not cause for worry. We’ll be looking again.
About 6:15 tonight as we came south on West Shore Rd, a small bear (yearling?) loped across in front of us. Too fast for pictures though. It was about a quarter mile south of Underwood Lane and was crossing to the lake side of the road. Mike